Day 3 Wednesday
Creston to Kew-lowwwna 426.1 km
Maximum speed: 143 kph
Moving average: 95 kph
Overall average: 67 kph
Travel time: 6:19
Moving time: 4:28

We have a great morning, lingering around Linda and Art's back yard drinking coffee and enjoying the beautiful morning. It is sunny, warm, there are no clouds in the sky anywhere. We have had such a hard ride the prior day and Linda is concerned for me because my voice is an octave lower, so she gives me 6 Cold FX; 3 for now and 3 for later. Art and Linda are not much older than us but they look after us with the concern of experienced parents.

It's clearly going to be a warm one. I want to take a diversion to Nelson, an additional 44 km so that we can visit Oso Negro Coffee House however I get out voted; We have spent a lot of time on the bike and Nan wants do directly to Kelowna. I am not broken hearted over it, I am tired, too.

We start out dressed in the lightest clothes we have under our riding gear and as soon as we are on the road, it is over 30. However, I need to find a spot soon to pull over to the side of the road so that I can deal with an issue back at the office so eventually, we pull over not far from a river but not close enough to get any benefit from it. I am on the phone for 20 minutes and oblivious to the heat; Nan is not. However, we get going and by now, the temperature is climbing into the mid 30s. However, the route from Creston to Kelowna is over the Salmo Pass, elevation about 1730 metres so we are fully expecting it to cool right off.

At the pass, the temperature drops all the way down to 24. On the far side, the temperature climbs back up to 34 and even riding at 140, it's smokin' hot. With all that gear on. It is so tempting to strip down and ride with only a t-shirt, as we see so many other riders doing but Nan reminds me that we "dress for the crash, not the ride".

Highway 3 from Salmo takes us into Castlegar from a long, long descent from the pass. As we approach the town, from about 5 km away we can see the runway for the airport pointing directly at us and guarded by an attractive bridge over Lower Arrow Lake. It is quite fascinating to see the airport from above and quite far away; I imagine it is how it appears as a 737 comes in for a landing. By the time we reach the town, the elevation has dropped to 620 km and the temperature has increased 10 degrees.

Along the way, we pass Nancy Greene Park and then come to Christina Lake, which looks large, cool and inviting. There is a little tourist town there and if we were not in too much of a hurry, I would want to stop and go for a swim. In fact, I think that at every river, lake, pond and slough we see.

When we arrive at Grand Forks, we are due for a rest and a snack to keep us going till we get to Kelowna. We see there are a lot of places in town that advertise borscht. Seems odd to me that so many restaurants in one little town would want to sell borscht but we realize once inside that there is a strong Russian flavour to the town or, Doukhobor more accurately. The Doukhobors are Russian dissenters who arose as a peasant group in southern Russia with orally transmitted teachings and traditions. They are vegetarians and practice passivism and they believe that God lives within each person and not the Church. 

We pretty much pick a place a random; they all look a little similar and frankly, the town looks a little depressed with boarded up store fronts in abundance. Our place is pretty non-descript but we see on the menu a "variety of Russian, Mexican and North American cuisine" which pretty much covers most of the world. I ask the pretty young blond, clearly eastern European waitress if she is Mexican and she giggles but insists their Mexican food is good. Nan being the adventurer in the family opts for a Pyrahi, which is a blob of dough not unlike a savory doughnut stuff with something, in this case, mashed peas. It is served with a Russian version of a "side salad". I know that doesn't sound like much but to our amazement, it is really good and Nan is the obvious winner over my chicken burrito. Her doughnut is warm and swimming in melted butter and sour cream which alone, makes it good. DEATH TO MY FITNESS PAL. 

We have dessert. It is another Pyrahi only this time stuffed with strawberry and rhubarb and served with ice cream. This is also outstanding as the strawberries are much smaller than the cardboard ones we import from California and are juicy, sweet and actually taste like strawberry. In fact, they are so good I can't help but ask if they are wild strawberries. 

From Grand Forks, we have about a two hour ride to Kelowna. I am expecting to go along Hwy 3 for a little longer and then when we turn north, to get on a major road with lots of traffic. What we get is "Highway" 33, which is a twisty anaconda through the forests past fresh rivers and a couple of little villages. It is beautiful and a surprise adventure. 

We arrive in Kelowna and we are staying with my high school buddy Pete and his lovely bride Carolyn. Pete and I are celebrating 40 years of friendship this year and I acquire a bottle of Champagne in my travels, which Nan has tucked up in her riding jacket. Because it is so hot, Pete has his garage door open for me and we ride right into his garage and they walk out with two, tall, gin and tonics. 

That is why I didn't update the blog that day.